2-995-697 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Government House, Cape Town, 1860. 'The Government House, the town residence of the Governors of this colony, is situated in some beautiful grounds...A broad avenue of oak-trees, upwards of half a mile long, leading directly through the grounds, forms a shady and much-frequented promenade. This is crossed by numerous other walks, also planted with trees, and dividing the ground into large square plots. Most of these consist of greensward, but a large space near the Government House and private grounds is devoted to the purposes of a botanical garden, containing such a collection of trees, flowers, fruits, and plants, indigenous and foreign, as perhaps few similar establishments can boast. This was founded by the Dutch long ago, and its thriving state has been celebrated from early times. These Government grounds are to the Cape citizens what the Londoners find in the parks, and the inhabitants of provincial towns in their public grounds and places of recreation...the shady walks are the resort of persons of all classes and ages, who, escaping from the close and sultry atmosphere of the streets, enjoy in the cool glades and valleys the fresh breezes blowing down from the Table Mountain'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.